Beginners guide to Instagram for Business 2019

I’m sure you don’t need me telling you this, but Instagram has become a staple in the social media world. So, as an essentially free channel, it should be a social media platform that you’re utilizing in order to grow your brand. Unlike Facebook organic reach on Instagram isn’t dead. With the use of hashtags, there is some potential in growing your following on the platform without paying for ads. All said, here are 7 things pay attention to when you start your first Instagram account for your brand or business.

Setting up your profile

The first step is to actually do it! There is absolutely nothing to lose when setting up your brands Instagram account. You aren’t required to pay for ads, and you aren’t required to post content if you end up deciding that Instagram isn’t for you. However, if you do believe that Instagram could give your brand more clout, remember it’s basically free to use -- so, might as well!

Picking an Instagram username

Get your username. Make sure you choose a username that people will be able to associate with you, your brand, or your website. It can happen where someone already has the username you were hoping to use. Visit that page and see if it’s active. If it doesn't have a huge following consider messaging the person and asking if it would be ok to use that name. In some cases, you may want to offer to pay for the username. But in most cases, you’ll be free and clear to get the perfect username for your brand. If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent time putting together your brand's name to make short, sweet, and memorable. This will definitely help in making your Instagram account more reachable.

Set up your Avatar

Your Avatar or your default profile pic is essential. Anytime someone comes across one of your posts, comments, or likes your avatar will be shown on the left-hand side. So, you want to be sure that your avatar is easily noticeable. A best practice is setting your avatar to be your logo. But there are ways to make your logo Avatar visually appealing and easy on the eyes. Consider the contrast of your logo and the background. If it’s hard to see your logo on a White background change the color of the background. Your options extend further than just Black or White. Test your logo out on different colors to see what works best for you.

Craft a Subtitle

Aside from your Avatar, one of the first things visitors will see on your Instagram page is your subtitle. To illustrate how crucial your subtitle is to your Instagram page, compare it to the above the fold section of your website. It’s the first touch point of your Instagram page. If it’s blank or boring you miss out on the opportunity to entice your visitors to scroll. Use the real estate to brief your brand to your visitors and give them an idea of what to expect on your page.

Change to a business account

If you’ve been following these steps you're almost done setting up your Instagram account for your brand! Now you can select “Edit Profile” Scroll until you see an option that allows you to turn your Instagram account into a business profile. You’ll notice your Avatar will now be on the right-hand side to show it’s a business account and not a personal one.

Research hashtags

Choose an assortment of hashtags that are relevant to your brand. You can pay for hashtag analytics tools online, or you could manually test and check the hashtags you’ve chosen to see which ones get you the most attention.

Plan your content

Now that you’re officially all set with your businesses Instagram account here is the most important step that will make the real difference. Plan your content! You want to get a better idea of what times you should post and on which days. After you’ve reached your first milestone of 100 followers you’ll have access to the insights dashboard.

Here you’ll find information about the age, gender, and best times to post on different days. This will help you post more relevant images, and the more followers you have the more relevant your posts will come as you start making data-driven posting decisions.

If you enjoyed this post feel free to share it with others to help them get their brands Instagram account underway! Also, share your thoughts with us in the comments section, or let us know if we need to add something. Happy Instagramming!